U.S. nuclear science in the global context for setting future directions for the field. Nuclear Physics: Exploring the Heart of Matter provides a long-term assessment of an outlook for nuclear physics. The first phase of the report articulates the scientific rationale and objectives of the field, while the second phase provides a global context for the field and its long-term priorities and proposes a framework for progress through 2020 and beyond. In the second phase of the study, also developing a framework for progress through 2020 and beyond, the committee carefully considered the balance between universities and government facilities in terms of research and workforce development and the role of international collaborations in leveraging future investments. Nuclear physics today is a diverse field, encompassing research that spans dimensions from a tiny fraction of the volume of the individual particles (neutrons and protons) in the atomic nucleus to the enormous scales of astrophysical objects in the cosmos. Nuclear Physics: Exploring the Heart of Matter explains the research objectives, which include the desire not only to better understand the nature of matter interacting at the nuclear level, but also to describe the state of the universe that existed at the big bang. This report explains how the universe can now be studied in the most advanced colliding-beam accelerators, where strong forces are the dominant interactions, as well as the nature of neutrinos. Table of ContentsFront MatterSummary1 Overview2 Science QuestionsHighlight: Diagnosing Cancer with Positron Emission Tomography3 Societal Applications and BenefitsHighlight: Future Leaders in Nuclear Science and Its Applications: Stewardship Science Graduate Fellows4 Global Nuclear ScienceHighlight: The Fukushima Event - A Nuclear Detective Story5 Nuclear Science Going ForwardHighlight: Nuclear Crime Scene Forensics6 RecommendationsAppendixesAppendix A: Statement of TaskAppendix B: Meeting AgendasAppendix C: Biographies of Committee MembersAppendix D: Acronyms

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